CASTLE Court Prep School is teaming up with West Hants Tennis Club to provide a tennis academy for pupils at the Corfe Mullen school.

This joint project formalises a programme that has already been running at Castle Court and is unique in the local area for this age group. It gives every child at Castle Court the opportunity to reach both their academic and tennis potential.

From September, and under the guidance of the coaches at West Hants, all children in Reception to Year One will play tennis as part of the sport curriculum.

Those children who are then selected to be part of a National LTA programme will have individual support to ensure that they are nurtured across all areas, from their playing skills to their academics, as their tennis commitments increase.

Castle Court already has a number of children on the LTA elite tennis programme and it is as a result of supporting them in both their academic and tennis success that this joint venture with West Hants tennis has been developed.

Toby Samuel, who is in year six at Castle Court School, recently attended a major European tournament held at Bressuirais Tennis Club in France.

As reported in last week’s Young Stars, Toby reached the quarter-finals in the singles, losing to the current Finnish number one, and, in the final of the doubles, lost to the Dutch number one pair.

Previous winners have included household names such as Kim Clijsters, Amrat Safin and Amelie Mauresmo.

Nick Robinson, director of sport at Castle Court, said: “Toby is currently one of the senior players on the joint Castle Court-West Hants tennis programme and is a great ambassador for its success.

"We are looking forward to giving every child as they join Castle Court the opportunity to be considered for the national LTA tennis programme.

“We also feel strongly that this high-quality coaching will pay dividends across the sporting programme and will help the children as they develop their skills in the traditional prep school team sports, such as rugby, rounders, cricket and netball.”

Richard Stevenson, headmaster of Castle Court, added: “We have put a lot of time and thought into the development of this programme with West Hants to ensure that the children have not only the best tennis coaching in the area, but also the academic support, through both our in-house online learning programme and, where necessary, an individual academic tutor.”